banner
LightNews
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist
@timentwisle.bsky.social
440 followers 690 following 110 posts
Author, botanist, broadcaster and other odd things; read all about it in 'Evergreen: The Botanical Life of a Plant Punk' (Thames & Hudson). My book of 50 essays, 'The Sceptical Botanist' (CSIRO Publishing), also out now! https://talkingplants.blogspot.com
talkingplants.blogspot.com
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 18
If you too would like to read my latest book, The Sceptical Botanist, head over to www.publish.csiro.au/book/8151/, or to your favourite online or brick bookshop.

RRP $39.99
1
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · 2d
If you are in Melbourne on Monday 13 October, the wonderful Friends of Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are hosting my talk on a life in botanic gardens and the new book, 'The Sceptical Botanist'.

Books available for sale and signing

rbgfriendsmelbourne.tidyhq.com/public/sched...
📅 The Sceptical Botanist, separating fact from fiction - Talk at Mueller with Tim Entwisle - 13 Oct 2025
🗓️ 13 Oct 2025 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM 📍 Mueller Hall
rbgfriendsmelbourne.tidyhq.com
2
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · 3d
'The Sceptical Botanist: Separating Fact from Fiction' (CSIRO Publishing, 2025) is now, after some technical issues, available on Kindle!

I can find it now on Amazon UK and hopefully it will appear very shortly on Amazon Australia (and Amazon Universe, if that exists)
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · 21d
The back paddock...

Actually, over the fence from the lovely Moss Vale dogs-off-leash area, with Reg, our cocker spaniel, beside me looking longingly (at rabbits too)
1 12
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · 26d
Exciting for those not living in southern Australia, and perhaps for some who are. The flying duck orchid (Caleana major) seen in Willow Vale, near to my new home town.

And in case you find all plants dull, I've included a local bird: a gang gang...
1 5
Reposted by The Sceptical Botanist
csiropublishing.bsky.social
CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Sep 8
Tim Entwisle has been busy doing interviews and events for his new book The Sceptical Botanist... have you caught any of them?

We love this happy snap from the book launch at Royal Botanic Garden Sydney last month.

@timentwisle.bsky.social | #Botany
Tim Entwisle smiles at the camera. He is wearing a suit and holding a notebook, and is seated on a white barstool at the front of a room. Beside him is a small white table, upon which rests a microphone and a display of his book 'The Sceptical Botanist'.
1 2 8
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 29
The Age/SMH, this morning (Saturday, 30 August)
1 2
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 26
If you happen to be in Bowral (Southern Highlands, New South Wales, Australia, Earth) on 5 September 2025, here is something you might do. I'll be there 🙂

www.thebookshopbowral.com.au/event-info/t...
1 1
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 24
As Morgan said in her repost, look past the tardigrade to the glistening green Hydrodictyon (water net), just one of many beautiful (under the microscope) freshwater algae:

"@fwredalgae.bsky.social Lovely! The #algae is Hydrodictyon -common name water net 😀."
wonderofscience.bsky.social
Wonder of Science @wonderofscience.bsky.social · Aug 23
A microscopic tardigrade going for a stroll through some algae.

Credit: Sinclair Stammers
2
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 24
A vivid red form of this always stunning species, Fritillaria imperialis. Here in Iran, at the westerly end of its natural range from the Middle East to the Himalaya, thanks to the wonderful photography of Sajad Alipour
sajadalipour98.bsky.social
Sajad Alipour @sajadalipour98.bsky.social · Aug 23
Fritillaria imperialis
Fars province, Iran
April 2025
Elevation 2450m
#Fritillaria #Liliaceae #botany #ecology
1
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 21
Beautiful colours
sajadalipour98.bsky.social
Sajad Alipour @sajadalipour98.bsky.social · Aug 18
Oreophysa microphylla (Jaub. & Spach) Browicz
= Colutea triphylla
Fabaceae
Tehran, Iran
June 2025
#Fabaceae #colutea #botany #ecology
3
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 21
I think that's the best approach. While it seems an unlikely world distribution there is no definitive evidence it is a weed in Australia. It might be, or maybe not. More in the book, but that's the punchline!
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 20
Purple Loosestrife, a pretty wetland plant in many parts of Australia, where assumed to be native. But see www.publish.csiro.au/book/8151/
1 5
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 20
One of the few orchid species (apparently) shared between UK and Australia. Perhaps the only one, excluding a weedy one or two
cycle4nature.bsky.social
David Harris @cycle4nature.bsky.social · Aug 17
I found some Beds. Autumn Lady's Tresses yesterday for #WildflowerHour.
It's a happy and sad occasion...
I love seeing them - they're stunning - but it also marks the end of the UK orchid season!
@wildflowerhour.bsky.social
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
@ukorchids.bsky.social
2
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 18
If you too would like to read my latest book, The Sceptical Botanist, head over to www.publish.csiro.au/book/8151/, or to your favourite online or brick bookshop.

RRP $39.99
1
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 18
The Sceptical Botanist live at the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens thanks to The Bookshop Bowral.
📚 Friday, 5 September, 10am
Do trees talk to one another? What's a native plant and what's a weed? Tickets at www.thebookshopbowral.com.au
1
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Aug 13
Tonight, 6 pm, in Sydney. Launch of 'The Sceptical Botanist: Separating Fact from Fiction' at Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

A free event, where I'll chat with John Siemen before signings of my new book published by @csiropublishing.bsky.social

Register at www.botanicgardens.org.au/whats-on/sce...
The Sceptical Botanist book launch | Botanic Gardens of Sydney
Join John Siemon, Director of Horticulture and Living Collections to launch of Tim Entwisle's new book, The Sceptical Botanist.
www.botanicgardens.org.au
3 3
Reposted by The Sceptical Botanist
csiropublishing.bsky.social
CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Aug 1
Just Published: The Sceptical Botanist

Do trees talk? What is a native plant and what is a weed? Are some plants immortal?

Through 50 engaging essays, @timentwisle.bsky.social delves into everyday questions about plants and gardens, separating fact from fiction.

www.publish.csiro.au/book/8151/
The book 'The Sceptical Botanist: Separating Facts from Fiction' in a park setting. The cover features a pattern of beautiful botanical illustrations.
2 9
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Jul 29
Final post from my new book of 50 essays, 'The Sceptical Botanist: Separating Fact from Fiction' (CSIRO Publishing)

Released in bookstores this Friday (1 August 2025), although I note a few have escaped prematurely

Illustration by Jerome Entwisle

talkingplants.blogspot.com/2025/07/guil...
Guilt-free gardening
A blog about plants and gardens (gardening, botany, algae and fungi)
talkingplants.blogspot.com
1
Reposted by The Sceptical Botanist
csiropublishing.bsky.social
CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Jul 24
"I love plants and I think they're fascinating, and I think they do amazing things that animals just can't do."

@timentwisle.bsky.social chats with ABC Radio's Robyn Williams about botanic gardens and being a sceptical botanist: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Cover of 'The Sceptical Botanist', featuring beautiful botanical illustrations.
1 2 9
Reposted by The Sceptical Botanist
csiropublishing.bsky.social
CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Jul 21
Don't miss this event hosted by the Australian Garden History Society!

@timentwisle.bsky.social talks about his life in botanic gardens and his new book, The Sceptical Botanist.
Sunday 3 Aug, The Hoskins Centre - The Armidale School

Buy your tickets: www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au/events/north...
Northern NSW branch: ‘Evergreen: A life in botanic gardens - Professor Tim Entwisle - Australian Garden History Society
2025 Winter Speaker Program Tim will also outline his forthcoming book on dispelling plant and garden myths The Sceptical Botanist – Separating Fact from Fiction. Tim Entwisle is Patron of the Australian Garden History Society. Tim has been director of […]
www.gardenhistorysociety.org.au
2 1
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Jul 21
With only 10 days until its release into bookshops, another glimpse inside 'The Sceptical Botanist'.

talkingplants.blogspot.com/2025/07/plan...

Illustration by Jerome Entwisle
1 1
Reposted by The Sceptical Botanist
editorperipatetic.bsky.social
George Knott @editorperipatetic.bsky.social · Jul 21
My talented colleague has been working on bringing this wonderful book to life: Planet Fungi

Makes me want to pick up my paintbrush! @csiropublishing.bsky.social #fungi
csiropublishing.bsky.social
CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Jul 18
Welcome to Planet Fungi 🪐🍄

These photos may look like science fiction, but you haven't landed on another planet – these otherworldly organisms are here on Earth.

1) Marasmius sp.
2) Pseudocolus fusiformis
3) Cookeina insititia
4) Physcia jackii & Teloschistes sieberianus

#FungiFriday #PlanetFungi
Vivid pinkish-red mushrooms with delicate bell-shaped caps and long, slender stems tower above the leaf litter like fairy skyscrapers. At their base are scattered three more of their kind, reproduced in miniature. Photo by Stephen Axford. A textured three-pronged fungi reaches up out of the ground. It is white at the base graduating to orange at the top, and its shape is reminiscent of a grasped claw. Photo by Stephen Axford. A group of cup-shaped fungi clustered together, facing the same direction like sunflowers following the sun. The inside of each cup is a creamy-pink colour, and the rim of each cup is fringed by lash-like triangular hairs. Photo by Stephen Axford. Two fungi compete for real estate on a rotting log. The left fungus is a pale grey-green with a multitude of dark curled cups, reminiscent of barnacles, whilst the right side fungus is bright orange and looks like many sections of peeled mandarin skin. Photo by Stephen Axford.
3 7
timentwisle.bsky.social
The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Jul 19
One from this morning's paddle on the Wingecarribee (more at www.instagram.com/timentwisle/)
3
Reposted by The Sceptical Botanist
csiropublishing.bsky.social
CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Jul 17
"What eventually converted me to the plant (and algal) world was the image of a plant cell ... I dropped maths and physics and headed full throttle into botany..."

@timentwisle.bsky.social origin story + a teaser from his book, The Sceptical Botanist:

talkingplants.blogspot.com/2025/07/what...
What makes plant tick?
A blog about plants and gardens (gardening, botany, algae and fungi)
talkingplants.blogspot.com
1 1 3